


Winter Kiss

by UnicornofAmber



Category: Chronicles of Amber - Roger Zelazny
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-02-02
Updated: 2020-02-02
Packaged: 2021-02-27 19:34:27
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,501
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22531054
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/UnicornofAmber/pseuds/UnicornofAmber
Summary: Vialle experiences her first winter in Amber.
Relationships: Random/Vialle (Chronicles of Amber)
Comments: 5
Kudos: 7





	Winter Kiss

**Author's Note:**

  * For [OneTrueStudent](https://archiveofourown.org/users/OneTrueStudent/gifts).



With a shuddering gasp, Random's eyes shot open and the prince jolted upright in bed. Random looked around, for a moment disorientated from living in the nightmare and tried to familiarize where he was. The fire that seemed to burn his skin, the taste of ash in his mouth and Balor's glowing eyes faded into his bedroom. Random let out a wheezing breath and landed back on his cushion, trying to get his erratic heartbeat under control. When he fell back, Random noted something brushing his arm and he looked to his left, to see Vialle laying on her back, her hair sprawled. _Had they-?_ A smile began to tug at Random's lips, before the nervosity took over. _Oh, hell, he couldn't remember any of this. Had he been drunk?_

But then he noticed her sleeves, barely visible under the blankets, and Random sighed deeply due to the tension that left his body. He remembered now - she had come and asked, in the early hours, if she could sleep next to him since her lonely chamber made her queasy. He'd accepted, thinking it a dream... Random merely looked at her, watching her shoulders move with each breath and her relaxed face, before noticing a chill upon his skin. Random glanced to the window and immediately saw the white carpet that descended upon the true world. It had been snowing last night. “Vialle?” Random poked his still asleep wife. “Vi, are you awake?”

“I am now.” was her murmured and drawsy reply. Vialle yawned very unlady-like, stretched like a cat upon the bed and opened her milky eyes half way. “What is it?”

“I got a surprise for you.”

“Oh.” Vialle’s milky eyes went fully awake, peaked by his announcement. When Random didn’t elaborate further, Vialle frowned. “Well, am I still going to get it?”

Random chuckled at her impatience. “You will, but you will have to go outside to retrieve it.”

“Outside? What could possibly be out- oh.” Vialle began to smile when she answered her own question, feeling the cold radiate from where she knew their window was. “It is snowing, isn’t it?” 

“Yes.”

Vialle squealed like a little child, causing Random to wince from the sharp sound that resonated in his ears. The blind woman immediately shot out of bed and stumbled in her enthousiasm to find her undergarments to put it on.

“Vialle, wait!” He himself was barely done getting dressed, when Vialle already stood ready and impatient at the door, hopping from one foot to another like a child. “Let us eat something first.” Random approached and carefully put his hand upon her shoulder. He didn’t put any pressure on her skin, but merely placed it there very lightly. Random watched in amusement when he saw her bite her lip, her milky eyes darting back and forth. "So... whatever shall we do first?" 

As if on cue, Vialle's stomach growled. "Alright, let's eat." Vialle caved in, with a little pout.

Random's laughter echoed through the room. "It won't vanish within the next hour, Vi. Don't you worry."

Vialle smiled back at him, reached for his hand on her shoulder and gave it a squeeze. Simultaniously the two moved forward, causing them to bump against one another. “Oh I’m so sorry-”

“-’I’ll let you go first-” 

She felt Random’s fingers and arm begin to curl themselves around her skin and gently guide her to the right direction.

“I believe neither of us have grown so fat that we couldn’t fit through the door anymore.” Vialle joked.

Random saw many of his siblings tun when they came in the room, with Vialle practically skipping at Random's arm. The youngest sibling ignored their looks, focused to help Vialle to her seat instead and sought for coffee. The only thing he gained in his cup however, were a few drops of the warm beverage. “Is there no coffee anymore?” Random frowned lightly at the passing servant. 

“No my lord. Sadly we no longer have any beans in our storage.” The servant replied.

Random glanced somewhat jealously to Eric, who sipped from what was probably the very last coffee for a very long time. 

“It’s war, is it not?” Eric thinly said as he saw Random’s eyes linger on him. 

“Indeed.” Random stared once more to his plate.

“Maybe you could use this opportunity to try out some tea.” The blind woman smiled in the direction of her husband. 

Random grumbled at her offer. “You mistake me for Benedict, Vi,” the prince sulked. Aside from Vialle, coffee in the morning was something he looked forward to the most these days.

The room grew quiet, safe for the occasional demand for more food or beverages at the servants. When he was done, Eric stood up from his chair, with his present siblings following suit. While the breakfast table was being cleaned up, the King of Amber began to converse with Caine and Gérard regarding the current maritime situation, with Flora standing closeby like a puppy ready to do his bidding, and with Llewella silently observing much like Random himself.

“Do you not have any orders?” Random couldn’t help but slip some bitterness in his voice. 

“No.” Llewella simply answered. “I’m waiting like yourself for an order of our King.” 

Random regarded his green-haired sister. “You are seeing your own desires in another, sister. And you should have nothing to complain about - unlike me, you need to do nothing but ask and he will gladly give you something to do.” Llewella's eyes narrowed and the tension rose. They already had so few who were supportive of their marriage. And sensing his bitterness had controlled his words, Random added, “The lack of coffee is making me tick today.”

“So I noticed.” Llewella nodded to accept his semi-apology, began to stride to Eric and started a conversation.

Random watched Eric’s surprise bloom at Llewella’s pro-active behavior and sighed. It was silly, he knew, to mold over things that he couldn’t change. Eric, much like dad, had put him in command for the inner city. A empty position, all knew, since no enemy ever breached through the walls.

That was till Corwin had, Random mused to himself. He had puzzled what had happened once Corwin had reached the top of Kolvir throughout various accounts of soldiers, citizens and alike. So many wounded could have been prevented had Eric simply put archers on the buildings to slim down the hostile army. He could have made some ambushes and prevented the hostile army to take down the citizens. Corwin’s attempt failed due to overreaching too soon, but Eric won due to the fresh state of their troops. Like before, no one thinks of a strategy should the walls be breached, but now the people of Amber and the refugees from Rebma were battle-worn and low on morale.

And Corwin would most certainly not leave things as they were. 3 years ago, Random would have gone without a thought after his brother, like he had jumped upon the Pattern to gut Eric. Now though...

A squeeze at his hand made Random turn back to reality and he looked irritated to his wife. "What?"

“You were brooding again.” Vialle said in a manner of fact. 

"Bravo, well spotted!" Random shot out at her, his frustration getting the better of him. "My brother doesn’t bother to ask any strategic opinion, I am not allowed to fight, Corwin is drinking cocktails in Shadow…what's even the point of me being kept _alive_?!”

Vialle stayed silent to let Random vent his frustration to her, merely rubbing her fingers across his arm. 

Random released a deep breath, managing to reign in some of his frustration."Come on, I feel I'm going to tear down these walls any second." Random growled as he increased his pace to the gardens. "We're here." The prince notified her, as the ground made way to snow, that began to softly crunch under their feet.

“Oh.” Vialle’s milky eyes were wide at the new sound, as well as the texture under her boots. Immediately, Vialle knelt down and began to scoop up the snow in her hands, petting and wiggling her fingers through the snow. It was as cold as water, yet it had a softer texture than the mud she used to make her statues. “It’s gorgeous.” 

"There is much more ahead."

“Could you-” Vialle asked, while putting her hand on Random’s shoulder. The prince didn’t reply, and simply held still as Vialle bended over to take her boots out, with her other hand on Random’s. Vialle was so excited however, her hand didn’t go as quickly as she wanted. Finally, the blind woman just flopped down upon the snow, pulled out her shoes and proceeded to walk bare-footed through the snow.

"Vi, it is going to be-" Random began to say, when he saw Vialle suddenly vanish in the huge pile of snow. "-deep." The prince finished his now unneeded warning as he carefully walked around to test the depth of snow. Like a wurm on a fishing hook, Vialle squirmed to try and get out of the snow herself, seemingly getting deeper instead of out.

"May I help?" Random offered her when he noted she couldn't get out on her own.

"Yes please." Vialle huffed with red cheeks from exertion. Random's hands went under her armpits and Vialle felt herself momentarily floating in the air before being put back on solid cold ground. The blind woman shook her head to try and get her klitted hair somewhat free from snow, before deciding to give up and put it in a messy braid. 

“So… let’s make a snowman.”

And so they did. After finishing his snowman, Random looked at Vialle’s experienced fingers making an almost life like replica of him and whistled. "Gorgeous."

“Because I’m molding your face?” Vialle teased.

Random let out a bark. “No, that’s not it. It is a gorgeous art on itself."

“Would you like to try it yourself?”

“Ah...No, I have to decline. I don’t have the patience to mold things to my desire.”

“But you like to carve out of wood. You turn iron into swords. That too is an art you need to have patience for.”

“I explained it wrongly” Random admitted to her, “Those things are… solid, that you can bend. When you have the strength of our bloodline, there isn’t much that can match us in that regard. There isn’t much that isn’t fragile or slippery in our hands. It feels more real that you are actually making something to your will by effort, instead of using raw strength to make it so.” Random went quiet again, just looking around to the garden where he and his siblings had played. "Come on, let's go back inside." The prince began to gently tug at her arm to get her up.

"Random-" Vialle felt Random’s warm breath on her face the moment she turned to answer him, and her reply was forgotten in an instant.

"Yes?" Random waited and frowned when Vialle wouldn't elaborate further. "What-" The rest of his sentence was smothered by Vialle's lips on his. After the intial shock, Random pulled away from her and stumbled up his feet. “What are you doing?!” 

Vialle became red from shame. “I...I..” The blind woman struggled to find any words, due to the shock of his refusal. “I wanted to kiss you.” Vialle managed to say at last. "I thought... you wanted it as well."

"You are not acting out of actual love, you are just acting out of duty and pity. And as for me wanting you, well, if you could actually see, you would have read the red flags a mile away."

“I can see you." 

Silence fell between the two as Random merely looked at her. 

"But, if that is what you want, then I-" Vialle's voice became thicker from emotion the longer she spoke. "I'll move out of your room as to not to bother you as much as needed." The blind woman strode past Random, who saw the tears flowing down her cheeks and onto the ground. 

Random swallowed, but couldn't seem to ease his throat. Well, that was that. Things were back as they were before. Random tried to ignore Vialle's decreasing footsteps as well as the urge to just look behind, look behind to see she won't stumble over one of those pointy stones hidden underneath the snow, or slip over some ice...

As if on cue, a loud crash made Random glance behind him, to see Vialle flat on her back. He shouldn't go, she was perfectly fine to do things by herself and she- The prince's legs ran before the thought had occured to him. "Vialle?"

"It is nothing." The blind woman said while standing up, though her red face and eyes revealed far more than her words. "You needn't worry, I'll get my stuff out of your room as quickly as I am able."

"Vi, I... shouldn't have mocked you in such a manner." Random took a deep breath. "Though I understand if you do not want to stay in our shared room."

Vialle frowned. "First you say left, now you say right. What is it that makes you turn course like the wind? And who is to say you won't change your decision again?"

"Did anyone tell you what I did, when you got taken by Balor?"

"I've... heard bits and pieces, yes." Vialle slowly said. 

"And you aren't afraid?"

"No. Not about that. I'm afraid I will loose you in this war." 

Random swallowed at her words. "I am afraid as well." The prince admitted as he took a step closer. "Afraid of.. all what this will bring." The reaction of his siblings, the uncertainty of the outcome of this war, not to mention the reprecussions to Amber's and Rebma's relationship... everything seemed ready to explode. 

The “what if”s and fears toiled in his mind once more and Random let out a ragged breath. Again, he let others decide over his life and prevent him from actually _doing_ something. Vialle had - despite her fear for his rejection - done something. 

Fuck this. To hell with what they thought, to hell with this war. 

Slowly, Random leaned in, hesitating just centimeters from her lips, with his heart beating wildly in his chest from fright. 

"I'll understand if you back away." Vialle whispered. 

A couple of heartbeats passed, the two just inches from each other, before Random closed the gap and kissed her on the cheek.

It was like a butterfly tickling her lips and Vialle blinked, not sure whether it was real or not. 

Honestly, he expected the ground to open under their feet, the sky catching fire and the sea to flood them... basically, the end of the world like so many Shadows prophesize. Nothing. Everything was as before in the garden. Random looked at the woman with snow-powdered hair, red cheeks and dazed look. 

Well, nearly everything. 

**Author's Note:**

> During "Sign of the Unicorn", Random and Corwin have the following conversation:  
> "Corwin, I'd wish you had the foresight to bring some coffee with you along with those guns. I could use a cup."  
> "Doesn't it keep you awake?"  
> "No, I like a couple of cups in the evening."  
> "I miss it mornings. We'll have to import some when all this mess is over."
> 
> It implies to me that the war, like all wars do, affect the economy. Men aren't working the fields or trading anymore and that tends to lead to a lack of essential and non essential products in Amber.
> 
> In "Knight of Shadows", Random mentions the following after the palace gets blown up: "If there is an easy way to get her to my quarters, Vialle is very skilled in certain areas of medicine. So am I, for that matter."
> 
> To make himself somewhat useful (and absolutely NOT an excuse to be close to his lovely wife!) I believe Random offered medical assistance during the black road war and greatly improved his medical knowledge. 
> 
> Lastly, I think Random would have taken a phlethora of hobbies, besides drumming. I can see him blacksmithing for some reason.


End file.
